The present invention relates to off-road vehicles and, more particularly, to a floor panel for an off-road vehicle.
In an off-road vehicle having two front wheels and a seat located at a substantially central position of the vehicle body, a floor panel is known that is so arranged as to extend from a position under the seat to a position between the two front wheels (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-106184). The floor panel disclosed in this reference has an inclined portion formed at a rear region of the floor panel in such a manner as to face the seat. However, the inclined portion is generally flat.
In off-road vehicles of the so-called "sit-in" type having no door mechanism, such as a four-wheel buggy, the driver is required to stand on the floor panel upon getting on and off the vehicle. In the prior art floor panel, as mentioned above, since the inclined portion is generally smooth, the driver has difficulty in standing up on the inclined portion. Moreover, since such vehicle is intended to run off road, mud is often attached to the underside of shoes of the driver, which will cause slippage on the floor panel, thereby rendering negotiation of the surface by the driver more difficult.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a floor panel for an off-road running vehicle that reduces slippage by the driver when standing in the vehicle, even if mud is attached to the underside of the driver's shoes, thus to facilitate the driver's entry and exit of the vehicle.